Kagura and Sougo In the depths
by Laura JN
Summary: Kagura is having strange, realistic nightmares, and the young officer has to do his duty and find out if these visions pose a threat to the public, but what could it be that is scaring Kagura so much? She is possibly the strongest girl in the universe...
1. Chapter 1

Author's note: This will be only about 2 or 3 chapters long, but the chapters are far longer than my usual ones. Once I've finished this, I intend to go back and continue with my other fanfics. I felt the need to do another Sougo x Kagura fanfic, and this idea came to me and seemed good, so I hope u enjoy it. It will surprise you several times I warn you, (not necessarily in the first chapter) and I will upload chapter 2 tomorrow or the day after. This is supposed to be serious and humorous at the same time. Please review! And fave if you like it x

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**Kagura and Sougo - In the depths**

Kagura was standing in a dark street. There were street lamps spread out along one side. She could see a railing that outlined a park in front of her. As she moved closer, she felt a cold wind brush past her. She was alone in this strangely familiar place, and it sent chills down her spine. She was usually strong willed and fearless, but this was too eerie to take light heartedly. The park gate creaked open, and she continued down the path. She eventually reached the large pond in the far corner of the park. She peered into its deep waters, and wondered why she had come there. Then she screamed.

Kagura sat up bolt upright. She looked around, and she was in her room. It had been a dream. But it did not feel like one. It was all too real. She remembered the feel of the harsh wind brushing against her cheeks. She shivered. It was early morning, and the sun was rising. She got up, and dressed, then went in search of food – that always helped.

After downing the usual fifty bowls of rice, Kagura grabbed her umbrella and went strolling out of the house, hoping to distract herself from the horror she had just witnessed. It wasn't something that one could just forget, but she could at least try and find something else to focus on.

Kagura had been walking for about half an hour when she felt the effects of the shock. Her eyesight was blurring, and she could feel the strength in her legs slowly leaving her. She was about to turn around and head back, when she felt a strong arm go around her neck, and a fist messing up her hair. Okita Sougo was giving her a nougie.

She managed to work her way out of his hold and throw him to the ground. Despite her weakened state, this was still possible. Sougo got up again instantly. They both took their fighting stances, willing and ready to tear up the other limb from limb. This would have happened too, if it weren't for Kagura's steadily worsening condition. Her balance was leaving her now, and her legs were becoming difficult to stand with. She looked up at the blurry Sougo, and let out what would not usually have been an empty threat,

"I'll beat the **** out'a you! You little ****!" Sougo was about to reply with a rather less empty threat, when she collapsed,

"Oi China… You couldn't beat up a fly in that condition." He said to her as he prodded her on the shoulder. She didn't move.

Sougo was going to leave Kagura lying there, but then remembered he was on duty, and that sadly meant helping-people-who-pass-out-with-no-one-else-around-to-help-them was on his to-do list. He scooped her up in his arms easily and slung her over his shoulder. He would take her back to her house and leave her on the doorstep. That was more than acceptable in his mind.

Meanwhile, Kagura was regaining consciousness. She was still feeling weak, but coconscious none-the-less. She opened her eyes, which had begun to un-blur a little, and noticed her favourite store to her right,

"Ah! Stop a second, I have to go in there."

"Why? You can't afford anything in that shop."

"Shut up, I'm not that broke."

Sougo carried her inside the shop, as she was still unable to walk, and Kagura bought a pack of Sukonbu. She ate this while Sougo carried her back to the apartment she lived in with Sakata Gintoki. Sougo was ready to ring the bell then leave Kagura on the doorstep, but she told him that Gin was out betting on the races with Hasegawa. He took her over to the sofa, then dropped her on it,

"I'll be going now then China," Sougo announced, heading for the door. He was almost there, but Sadaharu was hungry, and in a playful mood, so he showed this in the usual way by putting the nearest human head inside his mouth. The nearest human was Sougo.

Sadaharu sat on the doormat wagging his tail, while Sougo attempted to escape the dog's jaw. He emerged several minutes later gasping for air, and with thin lines of blood running down his face where Sadaharu's teeth had sunk in. He put some dog food in Sadaharu's bowl to distract the hound with,

"Can you please train your dog to not eat people?" He asked Kagura, as he left.

Kagura ignored Sougo's request, and lay there on the sofa. She fell asleep in seconds. She was inside a dark building with a tall roof, and stain glass windows. There were rows of seats on either side of her, and an alter at the front, dimly lit by two candles. Kagura realized she was in some sort of church. She walked up to the alter carefully, and felt the same feel of uneasiness that she had felt in the park. She reached the alter, and noticed a book lying next to one of the candles. It had her name written in gold lettering on the front. She opened it to the first page, and screamed.

Kagura woke up seconds after having fallen asleep, and realized she was screaming out loud. She had to clasp her hands over her mouth to stop. What she had seen in the book had been far too horrifying. It had been a reminder of what she had seen in the park pond in her dream the previous night. She barely noticed Sougo re-enter the room. He had returned because of her scream, as police officers of any kind ought to respond to loud screams. He walked over to her, a bored expression on his face,

"Oi China, don't scream, you'll break the windows." He complained. Kagura ignored his teasing; she was in far too much shock. She sat there on the sofa trying to get her heartbeat to return to the normal rate.

Sougo sighed. He was very lazy, and very uncaring of most people. He sat down next to Kagura, deciding the quickest way to get out of there, was to take the professional approach and then he would at least have done his job,

"Oi" He prodded her on the shoulder as she sat there staring at her hands as if there was something horrifying in them, "Why did you scream,"

"I- I saw…" Kagura attempted to speak, but the words came out as a whisper. Her eyes went blank, and her mouth stopped quivering. She swallowed hard,

"I saw something horrible, my worst nightmare. It was beyond imagination, yet so real, and if it were to really happen, I doubt I could go on living. I saw it in a dream; just now, and last night. And every time I see it, I wake up feeling weaker and more scared."

Sougo tried to read her expression. She was clearly truly petrified. She slowly slumped back onto the sofa, loosing the strength to sit up. Sougo hated this. It wasn't something the police could ignore. If it had been any other girl, it would have been different, but this was Kagura, and if Kagura was scared of something, something in vision like nightmares, then it was definitely something to worry about. Sougo knew this, as Kagura was probably one of his strongest rivals; his equal in combat. He sighed once more,

"I guess I have no choice then." He phoned the Shinsengumi headquarters to report the situation. Then returned to where Kagura was lying down. He would have to question her on the details of her dreams, and find out what threat they posed.

After eating some Sukonbu, Kagura eventually became able to talk, she described as much of the dreams as she could, but whenever she got to the parts where she discovered the horrible truth, she became unable to say it. Reliving the moment was too painful. Sougo decided that the only way to solve this, was to get Kagura to fall asleep again, and find out more details the next time she had a similar dream. Hopefully she wouldn't have another, and they would turn out to have been horrible coincidences. But Sougo had a strange feeling about this, and his instincts had never let him down before.

It was not easy to get Kagura to sleep though. She had had plenty the night before, and after the fresh memories of the terror, she was wide-awake, and unwilling to try. She tried to order Sougo about but that failed miserably. He turned the TV on, and put on the most boring program he could find, then forced Kagura to stare at it, hoping this would make her fall asleep. Kagura was being stubborn though, and would not close her eyes, even though her vision was blurring again. Sougo eventually decided that this stubborn girl would not fall asleep until she had to, so he would have to hang around until that time.

Sakata Gintoki arrived back from his day of epic failure at the races, to a rather odd scene: Okita Sougo was lounging on the floor in front of the sofa, and Kagura on the sofa, and they were both watching a documentary on the history of legislation in Edo. This seemed to Gintoki to be completely illogical, as firstly; Sougo did not live here, Secondly; Sougo and Kagura did not usually get along well, and thirdly; the program seemed to be the most boring thing ever created. Gin had had a long day, and could not be bothered to try and figure out what was going on, so he just ignored them and slumped off to his room, taking a carton of strawberry milk with him.


	2. Chapter 2

Kagura went to bed, despite being terrified of falling asleep, and Sougo sat outside the door of her closet with his famous trademark sleep mask covering his closed eyes. He could hear Kagura's steady breathing on the other side of the door, and its rhythmic pace sent him to sleep after only a short while of sitting there.

It was about three in the morning when he woke up. Something didn't seem right, and he was never wrong about these things. He ran his fingers through his fawn hair, and opened his claret eyes. He carefully pulled back the door to the closet. Kagura was lying there in her light pink pajamas, sleeping soundly under her duvet. He watched her sleeping there for a moment, before he realized this was the perfect opportunity to play a prank on her. She was asleep, and helpless right now, and he was awake, and at full strength after half a night's sleep. His mischievous side took over his small sense of duty.

Sougo went to the kitchen and came back with some scissors. He climbed into the small space in the Japanese style closet beside Kagura, and sat down next to her. He was about to start cutting off her hair, when he noticed something: close up, with her hair down, she wasn't bad looking. She looked peaceful as she lay there, but Sougo noticed a change slowly growing in her expression. The peaceful look changed to one of apprehension, then fear, then her sapphire eyes flew open and she sat up. Sougo dropped the scissors in surprise, and just looked at her, while she sat there panting for a moment, staring at the closet wall in front of her.

Kagura was on the verge of tears, the dream had been too vivid, and the fright had been too much. She could see a figure to her right out of her blurred vision. She couldn't tell who it was, but they seemed familiar. In her desperation for comfort, she turned around and clung to the person. She felt the tears run down her cheeks and she sobbed quietly. The figure was taken aback by her sudden embrace, but he didn't move. Sougo had been caught in the act of pranking, and the prankee was now distraught. He patted her head, feeling slightly awkward, and unsure what to do. If she had just had another of those nightmares, he needed to find out what had happened while her memory was still fresh. He thought the most effective way was to sound comforting,

"It's okay." He said, putting his arms around her and sighing, "it was only a bad dream."

"N-no." Kagura whispered, "It was… It was more than that." She sobbed again,

"More than that?" Sougo probed,

"Un… It was too real, and too…" She trailed off, "All my senses were alert, it wasn't at all like a dream" She whimpered, "And what happened… was too awful."

"I'm sure it was." Sougo assured her whist stroking her hair as a sympathetic mother would, "What exactly happened?"

"It… they were gone. All of them, gone…" She pulled back from Sougo, "Hang on…" She mused. She looked at the blurred outline of his face, and then recognition slowly dawned on her. Sougo? What was he doing in her closet? And why was he comforting her. This seemed odd and suspicious to Kagura, but she was far too tired and scared to do anything about it. She lay back on her mattress, and hoped that she would be able to fall asleep again without having a creepy vision.

Sougo watched his victim lie back down again, and realized he would lose his chance if he did not get the answers he needed now – he would have to keep her awake somehow. He lay down beside her, and propped his head up in one hand. He tucked her hair behind her ear, and then slowly blew warm breath there. Her eyes flew open again, this time with an expression of mortification on her face. She turned to face him, and frowned at his subtle grin. He was toying with her whilst trying to get information, and it was irritating Kagura a great deal. She ignored how dazzling he looked lying there in the dimly lit closet, smiling impishly at her, and glared at him.

Kagura had very little strength in her, and Sougo clearly wasn't going anywhere until he got his answers. She sighed, and then rolled over to face away from him. Sougo seized the opportunity to continue with his charade. He moved closer, then put an arm around her waist, and whispered into her ear,

"You know what I want." And he nibbled her lobe lightly with his lips. Kagura had the sensation of fourth-dimensionally jumping five feet in the air. She quivered at the warm and blissful feeling by her ear, and almost bit her tongue trying not to cry out. The eighteen-year-old male officer was trying her patience. He was either very keen to find out this information, or was no longer referring to wanting answers,

"Well your not getting it." Kagura replied, as this was the only answer she could come up with that would suffice if either of her theories were true. Sougo smiled at her usual juvenile stubbornness and began twirling a lock of her hair around his finger,

"I guess I'll have to wait then." He retreated for the moment, and allowed her to fall asleep in his arms. She was too tired to stay awake any longer, and Sougo was in need of more sleep too. He could feel the heat from her body against his chest, and noticed that she was no longer quivering in fear.

Kagura was not in an eerie place. She was in a peaceful and serene valley, and she was standing in front of an old but well kept house. There was a forest surrounding the little village that she was in, and there was a small stream running past her. The house was in the old traditional style with a slanted slate roof, and a wooden walkway surrounding the exterior. She walked happily to the stream, and saw a small figure sitting next to a taller one by the water's edge. She went over to them, and sat down beside them. Neither of them noticed her. They were clearly related. Both had the same claret eyes and light brown hair. The taller figure was a young woman in her late teens, and the other a small boy of about ten years of age. He was smiling, laughing and talking with the woman. This was the first time Kagura had ever seen Sougo's real smile. The valley disappeared, along with the stream and the young woman, but Sougo remained, and he grew older and was now in his shinsengumi uniform. His eyes had become deeper somehow, and his expression blank. He turned to look at her, and then smiled playfully.

Kagura woke up feeling refreshed but slightly dazed. She rubbed her eyes then opened them, and found to her relief that she could see properly. She yawned a little, and then noticed a strange weight around her. Then she remembered the night before, and that the weight was Sougo's arm. She was glad that she hadn't had another nightmare, but wondered why she had dreamt about Sougo and his past. She also wondered how he had become so sadistic after having such a caring family. The young woman, most likely his sister, had been so genuinely caring, and Sougo seemed to be truly happy when he was with her, but whenever Kagura had seen Sougo before, he had shown no sign of caring about anyone other than himself, and was often seen trying to murder his Captain.

Kagura sat up, trying to brush aside these strange arguments going on inside her head about Sougo, when she felt an electric sensation down her back. Sougo was lying there, resting his head on one of his arms, and tracing down her back with his free hand. Kagura felt tingling warmth in her cheeks, and moved toward the closet door so that Sougo could not see her blushing. He took her left hand, and kissed it lightly,

"Where are you going?" he asked silkily,

"…To get dressed." She replied, wondering why he was still acting this way,

"Can I join you?" He teased. He had pushed her too far. Kagura glared at him once more, then climbed out of the closet, and went to get dressed in the bathroom, where there was a lock on the door.

Sougo got out of the closet, annoyed that his plan was not working, but knew he was making some progress. She would open up to him soon enough. He had already heard her say 'they were all gone' which suggested that the nightmares had been dangerous for more than just her. If he could just find out the cause, then he would have accomplished his mission. He was having fun toying with her at the same time.

Kagura steamed, as she got dressed. She was very frustrated with Sougo, and she wasn't entirely certain why. After pulling on her usual red Chinese style dress and black boots, and putting her hair up, she took a moment to think before leaving the bathroom. Lately things had been strange. First these nightmare visions, and now dreams about Sougo's past. Were they linked somehow? She thought it unlikely, as the horror in the nightmare was unrelated to Sougo in any way.

Sougo was just contemplating how far he would have to take this, when Kagura emerged from the bathroom. She glanced at him once, then pouted, and walked away. She woke up Gin and ordered him to make breakfast. Kagura liked to have rice for every meal. She wolfed down the entire contents of the rice cooker, and went out for a stroll. She was only a few feet away from the house when she realized she was being followed,

"You're not escaping that easily." Sougo sneered mockingly,

"I don't need to escape. I could take you down anytime." Kagura retorted,

"That's not what I meant." Sougo teased, putting an arm around her waist as they walked. Kagura fumed.

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Author's note: There will definitely be a third chapter, and probably a fourth (You lucky people :p). I hope you enjoyed this chapter, please comment + review x


	3. Chapter 3

Author's note: Sorry its a little shorter than the others, but I think you will like this chapter XD and I'm very sorry that it took longer than expected. Anyway, enjoy x

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Kagura was extremely annoyed with Sougo, but she wanted to know something, and she had a feeling he wouldn't give in easily. She lead the way to the park, and the two teenagers sat down on a bench. Kagura decided she would have to play along with Sougo's strange behavior if she was going to find out the question that was nagging at her curiosity. She leaned against him, pretending she was still a little weak,

"Sougo, tell me about yourself." She asked him. Sougo looked at her with a baffled expression,

"Why do you want to know that?" He asked, and then realized his mistake. She was acting strange, so she must be up to something. Was she countering his flirty behavior be trying to out-do him? He rose to the challenge instantly, "Ah, I see, my charms are winning you over hmn?"

"I was already won over when I first met you." Kagura was going in for the kill, lying through her teeth, "But I know so little about you it makes me ashamed,"

"There's nothing to be ashamed of," Sougo began, blocking her attack and redeeming himself, "Soulmates know each other with no need for words," He finished with a strong blow. Kagura countered again,

"Soulmates? We're more than that. What I feel for you could never be described with words." She went in for the final strike, "But I want to know the little things about you, everything, that there is to know." Sougo was finished; he couldn't believe he had been beaten… unless,

"Kagura," He smiled, caressing her jaw line with his fingers, "will you show me the depths of these feelings?" Kagura thought about this, what was he planning? Her last statement should have won the battle, but she could see no way around playing along,

"I will." She replied,

"Then let's make love." Sougo smiled, but inside he was grinning maliciously. Kagura had a fourth-dimensional heart attack - she had been feeling very mentally disturbed because of Sougo. Was this guy willing to go to any lengths to win? He was a truly evil being. He must have some ulterior motive…

"Sougo," She smiled, and stamped on his foot with all her strength, "I will never tell you what I saw in my nightmares." She had given in the fight, but found immense satisfaction in finding out his motive and stamping on his foot after his absurd suggestion.

Sougo tried not to cry out at the pain surging through his foot and up through the nerves in his leg. Through clenched teeth he replied,

"Then you will never know about my past."

"Who cares?" Kagura replied, finally removing her boot from Sougo's crushed foot. Sougo had been utterly defeated. He would not give in though; this was merely one battle in the war between them. He would rise up from the shadows and crush her soon enough. He automatically went into deadpan mode. He had to think of his next move, so it was time for his back up plan,

"Well then China," He went back to using his nickname for her, "I will leave you now then if that's how you feel." He held her head lightly in his hand, and pressed his lips against hers. He caressed them slowly, and then after only a few seconds had passed, he let her go, and walked away. Kagura was left dumbfounded: dumbfounded and furious.

As Kagura walked back home, she blushed a great deal. She tried to hide it by looking down at the floor. How could he? Of all the ways he could have tried to defend himself, this was by far the worst. Why? Because Kagura had thoroughly enjoyed it, and she knew it. And then he had just left her to feel guilty about hurting him. Even worse, she knew he wasn't serious, but she was beginning to wonder how _she _really felt. She should not have liked that. She should have been repulsed by it, but it felt wonderful and-

"Gahh!!" She growled at nothing in particular, "Why me?"

Sougo sat in his bedroom in the Shinsengumi headquarters. He was in an entirely different mind frame to Kagura. He had just claimed revenge, and completely destroyed Kagura's ego – he could tell by the look on her face as he let go of her – but he felt strange, and not yet satisfied. He decided this was probably because the score was one all. He needed to gain the upper hand. He was about to begin scheming, when an image of Kagura lying asleep, with her hair lying loose around her, and her eyes shut, with a peaceful aura all around her. Sougo shook his head until the image went away, and then put his hand to his brow. He then looked at his hand, and clenched it into a fist. A mixed look of annoyance and determination all over his face: He had a new plan.

Kagura sat cross-legged in front of the television watching her favourite American sitcom, whilst chewing on some sukonbu. She was not thinking about the program though. She tried not to think about Sougo, but it was proving impossible. She was furious and strangely happy at the same time. She could blame Sougo all she wanted, but the truth was, she didn't really think of him kissing her as a bad thing. After several hours of pondering this, she decided she wanted to do it again, just to make sure that she had not been mistaken about liking it.

Sougo was lying awake on his bed, with his hair ruffled up, eyes closed, and topless. He was also trying not to think about kissing Kagura, which had seemed like a good idea at the time, but now seemed like a bad idea, because he had felt strangely empty since leaving her alone in the park. He had his new plan all laid out in his mind by this time, and was just wondering when the best time to put it into action would be, when one of his subordinates came to the door and kneeled before him,

"Sir, you have a visitor." The man told him,

"'kay, send 'em in." He said lazily without opening his mouth much, and not thinking properly. His subordinate eyed him slightly concerned by Sougo's reaction, but nevertheless bowed and left. Sougo was just retracing his thoughts to his plan, when his visitor arrived. He did not bother opening his eyes. He heard the door shut behind the visitor, and their footsteps as they came nearer.

"Oi Sougo, you have a guest, sit up." Kagura said as she sat in front of him and prodded his cheek,

"Why don't you lie here with me instead." Sougo replied, gears whirring in his mind,

"Fine then." Kagura moved so that she was right next to him, and put one arm across his chest and the other by his shoulder, "I wanted to apologize for earlier. I was being rash, and jumping to conclusions too quickly." She said. She wanted to get to the kissing as soon as possible so that she could leave, confident that she had not enjoyed it the first time. She caressed his bare torso, ignoring the electric vibes flowing through her fingers as she did so,

"No, no, it was my fault. I should not have suggested such an act so early in our relationship. I suppose I was thinking too much about the long run."

"The long run?" Kagura asked, slightly puzzled,

"Yes, you see I was hoping that one day you would marry me, and we might have children together." He continued, stroking her hair.

"I would like that." Kagura said, lying completely,

"Great." Sougo said, and rolled over. He was now above Kagura, perched carefully so as not to put any weight on her. He moved his head closer, and their lips were almost touching,

"Sougo?" Hijikata's voice came from the now open doorway, "Ah! Sorry –" he said, then left, shutting the door behind him. 'Great' Sougo thought 'The entire Shinsengumi will know in minutes'. He turned back to Kagura, who was looking at him with shimmering eyes. He slowly moved his lips against hers, as he had done earlier, and with more intensity as time passed. It wasn't long before they were lying in each other's arms and kissing passionately, and savouring every moment. Sougo's plan had of course been exactly the same as Kagura's. Both had failed, but neither cared.


	4. Chapter 4

Author's note: **SO SORRY THIS TOOK SO LONG!!!!!!!** I've been very busy with my education, and I had to prioritize that. I'm back on the fanfic case again now, so I'll post once a week minimum to keep you all happy now. This seemed to be my most popular fanfic, so I thought I'd prioritize it. Only one chapter left after this one, so look forward to it!

Enjoy x

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Kagura lay in against Sougo and sighed. She was happy, but extremely confused. She realized now that she must like him, or she would have left by now. What she did not understand was _why_. She traced around his pecks with her finger, and then began kissing his neck. She enjoyed this, and wondered why he had not stopped her. She sat up suddenly. Sougo sat up with her,

"What's wrong?" he asked her, concerned. Kagura did not reply. She sat there wide eyed. Was this all part of his plan? Did he only plan on enticing her so as to gain information? She had to think of a way of testing him to find out,

"I-I've lost it!" She began. It was the beginning of round three, the decider match between them,

"Lost what?" Sougo was becoming suspicious. He did not know whether Kagura was still playing the information game, or genuinely liked him,

"My necklace! Its gone… no…" She faked sobbing,

"Necklace?" Sougo wondered where she was going with this,

"It was a momentum from my mother. She gave it to me before she died. It was so important to me…" She managed to force a tear to roll down her cheek,

"From your mother?" Sougo was well aware that Kagura had no such item, so he knew she was planning something. He didn't want to get caught up in her plan, so he would pretend he had, and revolve his plan around hers, "Where did you last have it"

"I… I think I was by the pond…" Kagura chose the first place that came to her head, "The one in the park."

"I'll find it for you. Come on." He grabbed her hand and got up. Sougo grabbed his jacket and pulled it on, before walking out of his room.

Kagura followed Sougo all the way to the park. She had a strange feeling she had chosen a bad place. She couldn't remember why, but it sent chills down her spine just being there. When they reached the pond, it was already getting dark. Sougo began looking around for the necklace that he knew did not exist. He would have to figure out what her plan was before he could plan anything.

After a while Sougo turned and looked towards the pond. Kagura watched him. He walked right up to the edge, and peered in,

"You don't think it could have fallen in do you?" He asked her,

"I doubt it," She said cunningly, "But I was quite close to the edge." Without warning, Sougo dived. Right into the pond. Kagura gaped at where he had been standing a moment ago. She hadn't expected him to go in without any prompts. Sougo swam right to the bottom of the pond, and around in circles for a bit. He could hold his breath for quite a while. Kagura wondered if he was genuinely looking for the necklace. He would never find it, so she would know if he was serious or not by how long he insisted on looking for it.

Sougo until he couldn't hold his breath any longer. He came up for air, then went straight back in before Kagura could say anything. She stared after him, wondering if he would figure out that it wasn't there or not. She watched the water's ripples slowly fading away. She wondered why the pond creeped her out so much. It was getting dark, and Sougo's ability to see down there would be gone soon. He would have to give in at that point. If he did, she would have to find some other way of testing him. She suddenly remembered everything. The memory hit her like a bullet to the head, and she shrieked,

"Sougo! Get out of the water!" She yelled. She was terrified of the evil it could inflict. She called to him several times, but no reply came. He had been down there for a long time now – longer than any human could hold their breath. And no air bubbles had reached the surface. Kagura hesitated, but then jumped in after him. She didn't care if he failed the test. She cared about him whether he felt the same way or not.

Meanwhile, Sougo was still searching for the lost necklace. He felt like something strange was going on. He had been swimming for a long time now, but he had not needed to come up for air. He wondered for a moment if he should actually try looking for this necklace – just in case it did exist. He over turned a few stones, and looked through some of the plants, but found nothing strange. He was about to give in, when he realized what was wrong. He was breathing. He was breathing water. He went up to the surface, but could not leave the water. It was like an invisible force was keeping him under.

Just then, Sougo heard a splash. He looked around, and saw Kagura swimming towards him, looking very worried. He rushed over to her, signaling for her to go back. He didn't want the same thing to happen to her. She kept coming though, and refused to turn around until she had grabbed his hand. She climbed out of the water, but could not go all the way. Her hand refused to leave the water while she was still holding Sougo's hand. She gulped. She did not know what to do.

Kagura thought back to her nightmares. The true horror she had seen in them, and realized this was equally terrifying. She would not give in, she grabbed her umbrella, and started shooting at the water around Sougo. She tried pulling him harder, but her hand would not stay gripping him. She did not know how much longer he could survive down in the pond, and feared for his life. Sougo was beginning to loose nerve. He did not want to be separated from Kagura, and he certainly did not want to remain in the pond for the rest of his days.

Several minutes later, Kagura had tried everything she could think of. She was really panicking now. She had closely considered her nightmare for any clues as to how to get out of this mess, but could think of nothing. She fell to her knees, still holding Sougo's hand. She felt a tear make slow progress down her cheek, as if the tear felt as helpless as she did. She whimpered,

"Sougo. Please come back." She felt her eyes well up with more tears. Sougo could only watch from underneath the waters surface. He did not like seeing her cry like this, and felt like it was his fault somehow.

Kagura sat there, and punched the ground with her free hand. After a short while, she did it again, but harder,

"Why can't you leave the pond!" She shouted, "You mean more to me than that stupid nightmare! Please come back! I'll tell you anything you want to know!" Sougo heard this, and realized why she had been testing him. She did care about him after all. He felt like a complete idiot. He had been the one acting suspiciously. He had been the one suspecting her of still playing games. She had every right to think that he might be doing all of those things, because in effect, he had. Sougo let go of Kagura's hand, and jumped. He jumped right out of the water.

Kagura's eyes widened. Everything seemed to happen in slow motion: Sougo leapt out of the water like a lion pouncing on its prey, but instead of attacking Kagura, he wrapped his arms around her.

"S-Sougo.." Kagura whimpered as she gripped him tightly.

"It's ok now. I'm here." He reassured her,

"How?" Kagura asked him,

"I don't know…"


End file.
